What is Groundhog Day?
GROUNDHOG Day is a popular North American Tradition that is celebrated across the US and Canada on February 2 every year.
Thousands flock to the event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, as a small groundhog is released from its burrow and attempts to predict when spring will arrive.
What is Groundhog Day?
Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated in the US and Canada, where a crowd of on-lookers watch a groundhog, which is also known as a woodchuck, predict when spring will arrive.
It was made famous by the 1993 film starring Bill Murray, where his character Phil Connors gets stuck living the same day on repeat.
According to local legend, if the weather is cloudy when a groundhog comes out from its burrow on February 2, then spring will come early.
However, if it’s sunny, the woodchuck will see its shadow and return inside. This means winter is set to continue for another six weeks.
The event takes place with different groundhogs all over the US and Canada, but the largest celebration is in Punxsutawney, where the tradition began.
Up to 20,00 people visit the Pennsylvanian tow - which only has a population of 8,000 - to watch the event every year.
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Who is Punxsutawney Phil?
With the biggest celebration taking place in Punxsutawney, their groundhog, Phil, gets a lot of attention.
He travels to the top of Gobbler’s Knob, a small hill near the town, to make his prediction.
Contrary to popular belief, the event’s organisers don’t use the same groundhog every year. If they did, Phil would be 135 years old.
The small woodchuck is looked after by a suited group called the Inner Circle, made up of local dignitaries.
They feed and take care of Phil, and are involved in planning the annual event.
What time will the groundhog come out?
Phil is set to emerge at around 12.20pm on February 2. In Pennsylvania, that’s 7.20am.
The festivities have already begun in Punxsutawney, however, with the town hosting a Groundhog Ball, which is a four mile run, and showing the Groundhog Day movie.
A live stream of the event is available online.
On Friday, February 2, 2024, Phil did not see his shadow. He predicted an early spring.
How accurate is Punxsutawney Phil?
According to a 2001 journal, Punxsutawney’s Phenomenal Phorecaster, Phil has been right 70 per cent of the time.
However, the numbers vary. The Farmer’s Almanac, a book which provides weather information to farmers in the US, says Phil is only right in 50 per cent of his predictions.
Tim Roche, a meteorologist at Weather Underground, told : “You’ll be better off flipping a coin than going by the groundhog’s predictions.”
When did Groundhog Day first begin?
The tradition began in a German community in Pennsylvania in 1887.
February 2 was marked as Candlemas, a Christian holiday set 40 days after Christmas Day.
A small number of people from Punxsutawney went to Gobbler’s Knob to get a groundhog’s prediction of the weather, and the celebration has continued every year since.